Juan Gregorio de las Heras

Juan Gregorio de las Heras (11 July 1780-15 February 1866) was Governor of Buenos Aires from 2 April 1824 to 7 February 1826, succeeding Martin Rodriguez and preceding Manuel Dorrego. De las Heras served as a general of Argentina and Chile during the South American Wars of Liberation, and he later sided with the liberal Pipiolos during the Chilean Civil War of 1829.

Biography
Juan Gregorio de las Heras was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 11 July 1780, coming from a moderately wealthy family. At the age of 26, he joined the Spanish Army to resist the British invasion of South America during the Napoleonic Wars. He sided with the patriots during the 1810 May Revolution, and he became the commander of the garrison of Cordoba in 1812. In 1813, he became second-in-command of the Argentine auxiliary division sent to fight in the Chilean War of Independence. In 1814, he took part in the organization of the Army of the Andes, and he fought at the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817 and the Battle of Maipu in 1818. In September 1820, he and his regiment were sent to aid in the Peruvian War of Independence, taking part in the liberation of Lima on 9 July 1821. He was promoted to Grand Marshal after the capture of El Callao on 21 September 1821, and he was awarded with the position of Governor of Buenos Aires upon his return to Argentina in 1824. He signed an international treaty with Britain which recognized Argentine independence, and he delivered control of the government to Bernardino Rivadavia on 7 February 1826 when the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata was restored. He then returned to Chile, where he was stripped of his titles for siding with the liberal Pipiolos during the Chilean Civil War of 1829. His rank was restored by Chile in 1842 and by Argentina in 1855, and, from 1862 until his death in 1866, he served as Inspector-General of the Chilean Army. He died in Santiago in 1866 at the age of 85.